Hunten Outdoors C35-40IR Camera Review

2011 Hunten Outdoors C35-40IR Camera Review - October 25, 2010

2011 Hunten Outdoors C35-40IR

Camera is pictured on
the right

2010 Hunten Outdoors
C35-40IR 4mp IR Camera Review

We will start this
review with upfront report on the overall aspects of
these cameras since they are all very similar.
There are two IR models and two white flash (strobe)
models with a 2 MP and a 4 MP version.

We received these four cameras and put them through an initial
inspection. We found the choice of color very pleasing
along with the size. First we evaluated all seals of
lens and door gaskets and we could not see any defects.
Our first impression of the hinge assembly for the doors
appeared to have plastic pins but later evaluation found
them to actually to be made of metal. The internal
assembly of switches, LCD, battery compartment all
worked as designed. We inserted the C cells and went
through the programming on all units and we had no
glitches and all programmed very easy. The indicators on
the front of the camera to indicate movement (walk test)
are very weak and cannot be seen unless you are directly
in front of the camera. This problem will hurt anyone
who is using this feature to acquire proper aim and to
determine the field of view of the PIR sensor. During
the initial operational inspection, all cameras sensed
and took pictures and did write to the card. One of the
cameras would not accept a 2 gig Scan Disk SD card, but
did take the Toshiba cards fine. Strap loops on the back
of the camera are small and somewhat fragile. Any one
trying to tighten the camera on an uneven surface may
break this area if care is not taken.

Video and still captures have a very nice 10 second delay, which is
appealing to most folks. The large strobe on the white
flash cameras should do a super job. The white flash
cameras that actually function well have been in short
supply in the market. The two main problems we have
found with most of the white flash cameras tested so far
this year is a weak flash and/or very poor picture
quality. If these white flash cameras perform well in
these two areas with the great delay settings we will
definitely have a desirable product. The IR cameras have
a great deal of competition but having the very nice
delay times will narrow that down to the Scoutguard/Bushnell/Covert/WGI
cameras.

We started our testing in the trigger time lab and all cameras except
one had an average of 1.15 seconds except for the 2 MP
IR camera which gave us a 1.4 second average. We moved
on to the flash range and the white flash cameras both
gave us a 40 foot range with the 4 MP maybe giving us a
few extra feet. This was a surprise because we felt the
large flash unit would have created a much better flash
range for a strobe flash. The indication we got from our
personal observations while the flash went off was it
was very bright and when we evaluated the pictures we
felt that there may be a firmware timing issue that is
keeping the processor from using all the available
light. The next was the testing of the IR cameras flash
range which both turned in a 40 foot range. The next
test was the sensing distance at 76 degrees which all
cameras would sense out to 50 feet.

Using the day range and night range pictures for initial picture quality
evaluation, all cameras turned in a some what weak color
picture with a degree of fuzziness. The night IR
pictures all had good black and white color but were not
as sharp and clear as they should be. Both day and night
range picture evaluations are looked at using a 200%
zoom at the 8 plate. The degree of fuzziness will show
up quickly and is expected at that level but not
to that extent. There are other currently produced
cameras that sell for less than a hundred dollars that
far exceed these cameras picture quality but lack the
great trigger and delay times that these cameras have.
We feel the with an improvement on the picture quality
to a much higher level, these cameras would be hard to
beat in that market.

The other area of focus is the flash ranges of both the strobe and IR
flashes. We discussed the strobe issue above but the IR
flash range should be better for the emitter count.
Again there are other low cost cameras that perform
somewhat better with arrays that have the same or less
emitters. This could be a timing problem in the firmware
or maybe the emitter power is a little to low because of
battery drain considerations.

Hardware/Firmware
Update

The original cameras have since been replaced with upgraded cameras and
we could see a definite improvement in the white flash
camera function where the IR cameras remained very much
the same. These little cameras really like the strobe
flash and produce pretty good night pictures. Of course
the video is day time limited on the strobe cameras. The
size and function will become an attraction to some
looking for a sub $100 camera. The next generation is in
the mill and those who have access to the one and only
outlet so far will more than likely enjoy this little
camera series. The MP rating and file size is a great
thing to work with, especially if you choose to mail
your favorites to a friend.

We approached this
review straight out of the pre production and now it has
been brought to our attention that we have missed a
couple of items that should have been mentioned. First
off is the physical size of the cameras and all are
6.25X6.25X2 inches and they operate off 4 C sized
batteries. The case color is a very nice dark green.
This is a small camera and it maintains a respectable
amount of features. The warranty is one year. We
apologize for this over site.

12-06-2010 update:
We got a total of 50 days of battery life out of
this camera prior to it going dead. The camera has
worked very well without any problems to bring it down.
During the 50 days of battery life we collected 380
pictures and 20 videos. This review is closed.